To Believe About Life
The Bible:
I believe the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God and are without error and that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
God:
I believe there is one God eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I believe God the Son became flesh in Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and who is both 100% God and 100% man; He lived a sinless life, was put to death on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead three days later, fulfilling many Old Testament prophesies (in accordance with Scripture).
I believe God the Holy Spirit is a person. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement. He regenerates, seals, and sets apart the believer to a holy life. At regeneration, He baptizes the believer into the body of Christ and comes to indwell him fully and permanently.
Man:
I believe the first man and woman were created in the image of God and thus mans has great value in God's sight. But man sinned and consequently experienced not only physical death, but also spiritual death (separation from God). The consequences of this sin affect the entire human race. All human beings are born with a sinful nature and reveal this nature by committing acts of sin and rebellion against God. Though sinful humans are able to do some good works in the eyes of other humans, yet as to their spiritual standing before God all are lost apart from the atoning work of Christ.
I believe in the bodily resurrection of all men. Believers to eternal life with God, nonbelievers to eternal separation from God.
The Past, Present, and Future Work of Christ:
I believe Jesus Christ died as a substitutionary sacrafice for sin and that all who believe in Him are declared righteous on the basis of His shed blood.
I believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, His ascension into heaven where He now serves as high priest, intercessor, and advocate in our behalf before the Father.
I believe in the personal, bodily return of Jesus Christ in all the glory of the Father to consumate the end of the age and set up His kingdom on earth.
Salvation:
I believe that whoever trusts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord becomes a child of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit to eternal life. This salvation is not the result of any human merit or effort, the merit and substance being in Christ's shed blood alone. Faith itself achieves nothing, but is rather the object of faith (Christ's substitutionary atonement for sin) which has value. In becoming a Christian, a person acknowledges his own spiritual bankruptcy (his inability to meet the righteous and just demands of a holy God) and places his trust for salvation in Jesus Christ who died in his place, paying the penalty for his sin.
